Antiskid tire chain



Jan. 9, 1951 M. l.. BETTCHER ANTISKID TIRE CHAIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 13, 1948 INVENTOR MORTHVER L..BETTCHER,

ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICE;

AN TISKID TIREJ CHAIN Mortimer-L. Bettchen Dayton, Ohio; Dorothy L.

Bettcher Tame-ling. admnistratrxr of said Mortimer L. Bettchen deceased Application August-13, 1948*, Serial No. 44,133

chain has both side chains open or discontinuous so that; the.l chain can be drapedf over. atirel and then, by some'manipulation, of the car and the wheel, bring the ends of the chain together. This a. dirty, difficult job with the conventional tire chains'.

It is therefore ana object of this invention to provide a tire chain that will enable a user to placethe chains in position on a wheel with less diiculty, and: yet be able to holdl:he chainsY togather tightly while on they wheel.

It is still a further object. of the invention to provide a: tire cha-in o-f the character referred to in the foregoing object wherein the tire chain can bey placed on. the wheel without the neces- Si-ty'of jacking up the wheel orv moving the wheel at. any time during the process of placing the tire chain, on it.

It is` still another object of the invention to provide a tire chainof the character referred'. to in the foregoing objects wherein the. Weight. of the. tire chain will be4 Well balanced. particularly as provided for by the physical symmetryof the chain lengths that are used to hold the, tire chain on. the,V wheel.

Further objects and advantages. will become apparent from the drawings and the iollowing description..

In the. drawings:

Figure 1 is an, elevationalview illustrating; the placement of the tire chai-n of this invention on the Wheel of. amotor vehicle.,

Figure 2: isv a front elevational View of the wheel showing the tire. chain. in place on the wheel.

Figure 3? isA` an elevational View oi the. rear side ofA the wheel, with. the tire chain in, place on., the Wheeh Figure. iy is an elevationalv view oi] a modified arrangementv of a tire chain as being positioned on the: wheel of, almotor. vehicle.

Figure 5 is an, elevational view o the front sicl'ez oi. a. wheel show-ing the. modi-hed tire chain ot the invention in place onv the wheel.

Figurey 6 is an elevational View showing the rear side: of a wheel shown in. Figure 5 with` the tire chain place onit.

In.` invention, the tire chainv consists ot a continuous. side cha-inY Hl anda discontimiousside chain |,I The.- continuous side.- chai-n. lill: to.. be

placed; on the. front.- side of. the wheeli4 while the 2y discontinuous side chain is placed against the rear side of the Wheel.

A plurality' of, cross-chains |2 extends between the sideY chains l and; l'. Ther ends of eachA of thacross-chains are permanently secured to the side chains t0 and` in conventional manner.

The discontinuous side chain, has a. chain length. |13` extending from', one end thereof and a', corresponding chainlength- I4 extending from thef opposite end" thereof. These chain lengths |3y and. ti are substantially of the saine. length as the disconlinuous sidechain for they must be suflicientlyI long to extend diagonally across they tire cha-ing, asshown Figure 3., thence over the tireA parallel to the cross-chains l2, and thence diagonally across the fron-t side. @t the wheel as shown in Figure. Itiwill oef noted that the chain lengths i3, and M are. arranged in cross-wise fashion on the iront and. the rear of the: Wheel.

The. discontinuous side chain il is provided with a pair of loops t5. and. Il which. maybea part. et the side. chain ll or may be` attached. as free loops to the side( chain and. througli` whichl one of the. chain lengths |13, l is passed'.-

Ass-hown nFigure Zjthe continuousside chain |48 is also provided withap-air oi loops |17 and |8 which may be a part of. the side. chain |10 or. may be` attached as free loops. to the side chain and through which the chain lengths 13,l lll' are also adapted to pass.

The loops, il. and |13u in the. continuous side chain lll are. placed between, the same adjacent pair of. cross-chains. 42a and |213. respectively b etween which the loops. itiY and. |56 respectively are placed. This. provides. an arrangement whereby the chainlength that, extends across the tire i's parallel' to the cross chains L2. At least thisv part of, the, chain lengths. I3 and Ill;` can be of the, same chain construction as: the cross-chains |'2v so that the chain lengths |3 and i'4 will not weer any more rapidly than the cross-chains |2. As shown', the links |51, |61L Iland' Hilare so positioned as preferably to be on a horizontal. lifre passing through the centerr of the w-heel Snap-fasteners or connectors4 l5: and 225" arev connected to the continuous side chain IU pref'- erablywith the connecting loops 2F and 22; or the connectors |92' and 2t may connect directly to: the links oi the sideechain. lit if desired. The ends oi the chain lengthav and' i513: are conneictahle to the snapfasteners t9; and@y 2203 when the chain lengths: are drawn tightly intox. position., Varian-- tionin tire size canthus he careffo.; y

The cross chains |2c; and Ig'di, at, the '8111155 ci the discontinuous side chain II are spaced apart a distance greater than the contact length of a tire with the ground to provide freedom of movement of these cross chains when placing the chain on a tire.

To place the tire chain shown in Figs. 1 to 3 on the wheel of a motor vehicle, the chain is draped over a wheel with the' discontinuous side-chain II placed to the rear of the Wheel, as shown in Fig. 1. The chain lengths i3 and I are at this time free so that the space between the ends of the discontinuous chain length il will permit free passage of the ends of the discontinuous side-chain II around the tire' of the wheel, even though the wheel is resting on the ground.

If desired, small weights 2 can be connected to the connectors I9 and 20 so that after the user has draped the tire chain over the wheel, in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the chain lengths I3 and I4 can .be swung crosswise across the rear of the wheel 25.

The weights 2B are then Aremoved from the chain lengths and they are threaded through,

the loops l5 and I6 of the discontinuous sidechain II at the rear of the wheel 25 in the manner shown in Fig. 3.y To provide for more ease of installation the loops t5 and I6 can be pulled to the forward side of the tire for threading the chain lengths I3 and id through the same, and then returned to the rearward side of the tire. The chain lengths I3 and I 4 are then brought forward across the tire parallel to the crosschains I2 and threaded through the loops I? and I8. The chain lengths will then be pulled tightly to tighten the chain on the wheel and the snapfasteners I9 and 2B connected to the ends of the chain lengths I3 and I4.

It will be noted that the chain lengths have a physical symmetry on the rear and front side of the wheel to provide for physical weight distribution and thereby avoid any unbalance of the wheel when the chain is placed on the wheel. n It will be further noted that by reason of positioning the links Il, I8 no lower than the horizontal line passing` through the center of the wheel, the upward pull on the chain lengths I3, I4 is considerable and serves to tighten the lower portion of the continuous chain I9. This is important since the lowermost portions of the side chains bear the brunt of the thrust as power is applied to the rear wheels, perhaps to pull the car out of a snowbank or to make headway on an icy street. It is imperative that there shall be no slack in the chain structure at the bottom of the tire so that the tire chain tightly hugs the tire at this position, for otherwise any relative move- 'ment between the chain and the tire will obviously cut 0r bruise the tire.

In Figures 4 to 6 there is illustrated a slightly modified arrangement of the tire chain of this invention.

In this modied form, the tire chainv consists of a continuous chain length 3G that is placed against the front side of the wheel and a discontinuous chain length 3l that is placed against the rear side of the wheel. Cross-chains 32 are secured at their opposite ends to the side-chains 30 and 3| in conventional manner.

The discontinuous side-chain 3l has a chain length 33 extending therefrom that is substantially as long as the discontinuous side chain 3| so that it can passthrough a loop 35 and thence diagonally across the side-chain, asA shown inFig. 6; thence across the tire 35 parallel to the crosschains 32, and thence diagonally across the continuous side-chain 33 on the front of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 5.

The discontinuous side chain 3! has the loop 36a through which the chain length 33 is passed to draw the chain tightly around the wheel. The discontinuous side-chain 3l is provided with a second loop3'l through which the chain length 33 passes when extending diagonally across the rear of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 6.

The continuous side-chain 3i] is provided with a loopvSS through which the chain length 33 passes on the front side of the wheel. rIliis loop 38 is between the same adjacent pair ci crosschains 32a as the loop 3i, thus providing fol1 the chain length 33 to pass around the tire parallel to the cross-chains 32. At least the portion of the chain length 33 that is parallel to the crosschains 32a. can be of the same chain construction as the cross-chains.

, To place the tire chain on a wheel, the chain is draped over a wheel, as shown in Fig. 4, with the continuous chain at the front of the wheel and the discontinuous chain at the rear of the wheel.

The chain length 33 can then be thrown from one side of the wheel to the other by means of the weight 26a, and the weight then removed. The chain length 33 is then threaded through the loop 3B on the rear of the wheel and thence through the loop 3l. By pulling the chain forward over the wheel 35, the chain will be drawn tight.

The chain length 33 is then passed through the loop 38 in the continuous side chain and the connector 3E that is attached to the continuous side-chain 3B is connected to the end of the chain length 33.

While the devices disclosed and described herein constitute preferred forms of the invention, yet it is understood that they can be altered mechanically without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that modications that fall within the scope of the appended claims are intended to be included herein.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A tire chain comprising, a continuous side chain and a discontinuous side chain, a plurality of cross-chains extending between said side chains and permanently secured at their opposite ends to said side chains, said discontinuous side chain having a chain length extending therefrom from each end thereof of substantially the same length as said discontinuous side chain, and connectors on said continuous side chain for connecting to the end of each of said chain lengths', said side chains having loops through which said chain lengths can be passed to extend the chain lengths diagonally across one side of the tire chain in crosswise fashion thence across the tire chain parallel'to said cross-chains and-thence diagonally across the opposite side of the tire chain in crosswise fashion with the diagonal position of the respective chain lengths lon one side of the tire being substantially at a right angle to the diagonal position of the respective chain lengths on the opposite'side of the tire chain whereby to balance the weight of said chain lengths by symmetric disposition ci the said-chain lengths on the tire chain, said connectors being connected to the ends of said chain lengths', whereby to hold the tire chain on a tire. 2. A tire chain comprising, acontinuou's side site ends to said side chains, said cross chains n extending between the ends of said discontinuous side chain and said continuous side chain .being spaced apart at their connection to said continuous side chain a distance greater than the normal contact length of a tire with the ground, said discontinuous side chain having a chain length extending from each end thereof of substantially the same length as said discontinuous side chain, said discontinuous side chain having a pair of loops through which said chain lengths can be passed, said loops being positioned on said discontinuous side chain relative to opposite ends thereof that said chain lengths are positioned diagonally across the tire chain in the plane of the said discontinuous side chain in crosswise fashion when passed through the said loops, a pair of loops on said continuous chain positioned between adjacent cross-chains between which said loops are placed on said discontinuous side chain, and a pair of connectors on said continuous side chain to which said chain lengths are connected, said connectors being positioned on said continuous side chain that said chain lengths are positioned diagonally across the tire chain in the plane of the continuous side chain in crosswise fashion when connected to said connectors, said loops being positioned on a level coinciding with a line drawn through the center of the tired wheel to which the chain is applied.

3. A tire chain including, a continuous side chain and a discontinuous side chain, a plurality of cross-chains extendingbetween said side chains and permanentIy secured at their opposite ends to said side chains, said cross chains extending between the ends of said discontinuous side chain and said continuous side chain being spaced apart at their connection-to said continuous side chain a distance greater than the normal contact length of a tire with the ground, said discontinuous side chain having a chain length p extending therefrom of substantially the same l length as the said discontinuous side chain, and

a connector on said continuous side chain for connecting to the end of said chain length, said ffside chains having loops through .which said -j chain length can be passed to extend the chain :,length diagonally across one side of, the tire chain, thence across the same parallel to said :cross-chains and thence diagonally-across the ,opposite side of the tire chain withsaid connector connected to the end of said chain length whereby to hold the tire chain ona tire, said loops .being positioned on a level coinciding with a a line drawn through the center of the tired wheel to which the chain is applied.

MORTIMER L. BETTCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

